Photo by Sally Anscombe/Getty ImagesBy Tara Kennedy-KlineWe hear it over and over again; every book, article and TV show confirms it: parenting is the hardest job on the planet. But is it really? Is raising a happy, healthy, well-behaved child truly more difficult than rocket science? Should it truly require a Ph.D or are we—as parents—looking to get off the hook for being judged for our mistakes? I tend to believe it’s more about the latter. So I have taken my years of field study in the arena of coaching parents and compiled this list …More from YourTango:Stop Sexualizing My Son - He’s Eleven!

My top 10 parenting mistakes and how to prevent them.10. You decide on a parenting “style” before your child is born and tell everyone how perfectly you will execute it. Talk about being destined to fail! Making a decision that huge before getting to know your child’s patterns will undoubtedly sabotage your every plan. The mother who intends to breastfeed exclusively will have a child with an allergy to nipples and the mom who is confident that corporal punishment is the only way, will give birth to a child who is hypersensitive to touch. Learn your child before you choose your lessons. And, if necessary, decide to adopt a parenting “mindset” rather than a style.9. You don’t allow your children to play and explore. Children learn through play, and play includes struggling, making mistakes and even getting some bumps and bruises along the way. If we are constantly guarding, guiding and correcting their playtime, they will be afraid to try new things and, more importantly, they will not learn how to correct or soothe themselves.8. You react out of embarrassment instead of responding to the true situation. You let your child run around the house naked from the waist-down at home because that’s the latest potty training technique—but when he whips off his pants in the grocery story because he has to pee, you get embarrassed and scold him so other people don’t think you condone exhibitionism. That sends mixed signals and will only set you both up for failure. The better idea would be to ask him, “Buddy, do you have to go potty?” and then follow through while reminding him to use his words next time. Any parent will understand. And if they don’t … who cares?! I’m pretty sure we could all tell a pretty good embarrassing story about our kids.7. You blame your child for your reaction. ”Why do you make me yell at you? We were having a great day until you ruined it!” This teaches your child to blame others for his/her own actions. Is a 2-year-old really responsible for you choosing to yell at them? Can the mistake of a toddler take away all the fun you had earlier in the day? Own your decisions and choose your words parents: “I’m yelling because I feel frustrated right now.” Then, give them the power by asking them what they can do to help get back on track.6. You make unrealistic and idle threats. Chances are, you won’t really leave your child at the mall alone and you certainly are not going to break his/her arm if he/she doesn’t stop pulling things off the shelves (and if you do, your problems go way beyond this article). So don’t even say it! You are teaching your children to make threats to get their way and you’re telling them that you can’t be trusted to tell the truth. If you are going to make threats, be sure they are things you can realistically follow through with, which brings me to the next big mistake…5. You don’t follow through on consequences. If you use counting as a parenting tool, make sure your children know what will happen if they get counted out. “I’m going to count to three and you had better sit down.” Then what? So after the third time of complying, they decide to see what you’re made of, then the negotiation begins. Have a better plan; set agreements in advance and stick to them. “We will be at the playground until 3 p.m. and then we will go get pizza for lunch! If you fight with me when it’s time to leave, there will be no pizza. Do you understand?” Then, it’s simply a matter of following through.More from YourTango:10 Tips To Raise Perfect, Unspoiled Angel Kids4. You end your requests or commands with “OK?” This is an easy one. If “no” is not an acceptable answer, then don’t ask if they are OK with it. “It’s time for us to start getting ready to leave. You have two more minutes to play.” Period. You can do it. 3. You tell your child it’s not his/her fault even if it really is. If Suzy pushes Billy off of the sliding board and Billy starts crying and says he doesn’t like Suzy any more, comforting the crying Suzy by telling her it’s not her fault is neither serving Suzy’s emotional intelligence nor is it honoring Billy’s feelings. Suzy needs to know that her actions affect the people around her and sometimes, we make poor choices. The better thing to do is to ask Suzy, “Billy is hurt and sad right now, what would you like to do to make this better?” She may not respond by walking over and apologizing right away, but maybe she’ll make him a card or ask him to play something else. Let the apology be her own, but acknowledge the effort.2. You force children to display affection to “strangers.” We talk about “stranger danger” and yet, when we attend a gathering with family or friends that our children don’t know, we insist they give Aunt Mary a kiss! Sparing a distant relative’s feelings by forcing our children into uncomfortable situations is not a good move. In fact, it’s contradictory and confusing. Teach your child to shake hands or blow kisses instead. It’s just as cute and allows kids to keep their distance while maintaining their comfort level and still let’s Aunt Mary feel loved.1. You compare other people’s kids to your own--in front of your children. Parents, don’t we deal with enough blame, shame and guilt from our own beliefs without putting it on each other? So what if Jamie’s kids don’t eat meat? Who cares if Bill and Donna let their kids have iPhones? Those are their kids and their rules. That doesn’t mean you have to change your beliefs to compete with them. So unless someone is actually harming their child, what if we just let parents parent? And what would happen if we all decided to take our favorite things from each other and implement them? And what if we would then thank each other for sharing them? It sounds crazy, I know, but just imagine what a different world this would be?Tara Kennedy-Kline is a YourTango expert and author who stands for celebrating each person for who they are and the unique brilliance they bring to the world.More from YourTango:Dear Stay-At-Home Moms: Shut Up!6 Things You Should NEVER Say To Your KidsI’m A Mother Of 2 Boys And I Can’t (And Won’t) Support Feminism

This subject in my experience is probably one of the highest on the list of things we as parents most worry and stress about (next to eating). It is a point when a parent starts to feel the pressure of time and whether we are 'on top of things' getting our child trained neither too early or too late. Children, once they reach the verbal capacity, will let us know and show us signs that they are ready for the next step. If we as parents find ourselves putting the pressure we feel about making that correct time mark onto the child, then the training will appear difficult and seemingly unsuccessful. That's not to say the parents' heart isn't in the right place, we all as parents want to feel we are doing all we can to help our kids along. The key to focus and work on first is our kids being able to communicate the words referring to going potty and making that verbal connection. Before this happens it is very hard to get kids to go potty. The moment we parents find ourselves listening to our child talking about going potty is the time to go for it full speed ahead. Prior to this occurring, the visual sight of the potty or child toilet seat and them hearing reminders about doing that action through key words is enough to get them to start verbalizing it to us first, rather than expecting them to do the act itself. Usually shortly after kids start communicating about 'going potty' they will begin to physically feel more confident about doing the act itself. Hope this takes some of the stress out, no pressure equals more results, good luck and have fun!

For as long as I can remember with my daycare, the kids have always loved smoothies. That being said not all smoothies are made alike. Kids especially are very keen on the slightest change or stray from what they know they like and have gotten used to. As soon as I alter the smoothie recipe a bit, frowny faces happen, unfinished cups that take forever to be sipped and so on. So below is the tried and true recipe that gets those faces beaming with excitement when its smoothie time and not only get sipped with super speed but they're also asking for seconds which is a parents'/providers' dream!

Into the blender throw in: 1 cup Vanilla yogurt3/4 cup frozen blueberries (can be fresh ones too)11/2 cup whole milk1 med/large banana (frozen ones are great too)1 tbls ground cinnamon (**key)**So simple and the kids go nutty for it. There are also variations when it comes to the fruit, but I don't stray too far from the blueberries because other berries enter tartness category too much. Strawberries, apples, grapes, sometimes raspberries, melon, have all passed the test. Oranges don't go over too well either. Enjoy!

I'm always searching for ways to make the ultimate mac'n'cheese or the best it can be anyway. Although I don't make it often, I recently experimented with an interesting idea. Aside from the traditional macaroni, cheese and then bake, I decided to try something different. Here's the recipe:

Boil the elbow macaroni al dente so it's not over cooked (3 cups), drain and put back in the pot with a tiny bit of the starchy water in it. Put the pot back on low heat. Pour in about 3/4 cup of strained tomatoes or 'passata' sold in jars and two tablespoons of butter. Then pour in half a cup of whole milk, salt and pepper.

Mix all this together until well combined and not so watery anymore. Once its reached that consistency, shred ALOT of nice old cheddar (preferably orange so it gets nice colour) and put it in the pot and keep stirring. Very important to KEEP STIRRING! keep the heat on medium to low. The constant stirring will help the cheese distribute and incorporate into the mixture without sticking too much to the pot.

All this doesn't take very long, about 6min. Salt and pepper to taste if need be. Then transfer the macaroni to a bowl or container and just let it settle for 3min, and serve!

It's delicious, smooth, cheesy and the passata just gives the cheddar a nice kick. Let me know how it turns out!

This September 2014 Eliana my daughter started school. I knew this day would come eventually, but didn't realize it would be here so fast! I was nervous the night before because I wasn't sure how she was going to react getting on a school bus and also myself seeing her drive away. I was expecting the worst.Sure enough the morning of the first day went as smooth as ever. Eliana was super excited all morning and actually doing really good listening. When the bus came she basically ran up the steps, quickly looked back at me and gave me a quick "bye mom!".I almost couldn't believe it. That was it? No holding on to me, no crying, no fear? Needless to say I was thoroughly relieved and her positive outlook on the new change in her life eased my mind completely. I still felt a pang in my heart watching that bus drive away with what seemed like still a baby off to grown up world. But there it is, and its all great. She loves school thankfully, and is eager every morning to go back. I'm really thankful for that! And congrats to all the kids out there who started their journey also!

Author

Hi, I'm Anna Myszkowski. I am a child care provider at Little Giraffe Daycare in my home. I have a 6 year old daughter Eliana who inspired me to start the daycare in 2010. I have over 10 years child care experience as well as a background in Graphic Design and Theatre.